An exhibition of contemporary work exploring the dichotomies of dialogue through painting, drawing, installation, film and photography. Curated by Diana Ali.

Image: Mladen Hrvanovic

Concept

For a dialogue to form, the process requires another. When another is presented the dialogue becomes a dichotomy. Do we adopt another persona according to who we are talking to and how genuine is that chat? According to David Bohm, no one wins a dialogue; a dialogue is an exploratory process and does not work towards a goal. However, Mikhail Bakhtin held that relationships and connections exist among all living beings, and that dialogue creates a new understanding of a situation that demands change.

Dialogue can be seen as an exchange but this exchange is not always equal or amicable, it can manifest into an emotional charge, disagreements, it may lead to conflicts, irrationality, fake romances, or jealous contingencies. Does dialogue hinder us or further us?

Michal Iwanowski

'35 Years On'Photograph, C-Type print 80x80cm

"To enter a relationship is to open a complex dialogue. Some thirty-five years on, the dialogue still operates, having changed its intensity and dynamics. It exceeds the language, the emotion, the negotiation of power. It has identified the obvious, and it includes the unspoken. A photograph on my parents."